Sweet-Tooth Friday: Vegan Almond-Quinoa Muffins

Hi everybody! This is Christine and welcome back to Sweet-Tooth Friday! This week I made Vegan Almond-Quinoa muffins from the featured cookbook of the month, Veganomicon.

Vegan cupcakes fit for cupcake snobs

Before I was a vegan baker, I worked at a boutique-style cupcakery that does fabulously creative displays and towers of cupcakes without ever compromising on flavor. When customers started requesting vegan cupcakes, I just wasn’t sure I could make them to the standards people had come to expect from the shop.

Just for fun, I picked up a copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and within days the cupcakery was able to offer vegan cupcakes on the menu. Yes, the recipes are that inspired and that good. In fact, I attribute my later decision to focus only on vegan baking, and eventually on food law, to that first positive experience.

So when I got my hands on Isa and Terry’s next creation, Veganomicon, you can imagine how excited I was to find three chapters on baking! There are chapters for Desserts, Cookies and Bars, and Breads, Muffins and Scones. Holy cannoli!

Who knew quinoa could be so cute?

After deep contemplation I chose Almond-Quinoa muffins to try because I was intrigued by the idea of baking with a new kind of whole grain. Isa and Terry recommended red quinoa as particularly “charming” in these muffins, so I just cooked some up the night before with dinner and reserved an unseasoned portion.

Besides, when’s the last time you had quinoa for breakfast, sweetened only with agave nectar and dried apricots? You will be blown away by how satisfying and yummy these healthy little suckers are!

In a medium size bowl, whisk together the soy milk and ground flaxseed. Allow to sit for 1 minute, then whisk in oil, agave nectar and vanilla.

In a separate large bowl, sift together flour, almond meal, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until just incorporated. Gently fold in the cooked quinoa and the apricots and mix until only the large lumps are gone.

Pour into the prepared muffin tin and bake for 20 to 22 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

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These almond-quinoa muffins are amazing! I didn’t make any substitutions besides using my silicone cupcake wrappers instead of greasing a tin. I can’t believe these muffins are quinoa-based and have so little sweetener. The almond flour lends a nice buttery taste, but without the heaviness of standard calorie-bomb muffins. Plus the cardamom makes them seem like an exotic treat.

I had great success with this recipe, and what’s cool is that if you have any questions about an ingredient or substitution, there is a forum for The Post Punk Kitchen where readers can post and exchange ideas.

Thanks and congrats

Before I go, I just wanted to say thanks for all the congrats you guys sent in about my first 5k. I had so much fun representing the NMA community, and competing in a race really lit that running spark again!

And congrats to Matt for the blog’s upcoming first year anniversary! On yesterday’s list of 75 ways going vegetarian has made life better, I really connected with #75, #69, #17, #15, and of course, #41. Thanks Matt, for the sweet opportunity to write a weekly post here!

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Comments

Hey girl! How are you? Another great recipe- they are super cute (as are your cupcake liners). Before I tried vegan baking, I felt the same way…the outcome will never be AS good as the alternative. Now I think the outcome can actually be WAY BETTER than the alternative! Enjoy your weekend
.-= Erica´s last blog ..Wholesome Foods Bakery Gluten-Free Giveaway =-.

Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar is INDISPENSABLE. It’s the one cookbook I have by these authors, and in case I wasn’t sure if I should get the others, I am positive after seeing this recipe! Thanks!

What kind of silicone cupcake liners do you use? I really like the idea of reusable liners, but they get mixed reviews, so I’d like to try with a brand that at least SOMEONE has had luck with! (I followed the Amazon link you included in your post, but those don’t look like the same ones in the picture…)

Hey Brandy,
I actually got my cups in the “dollar deals” section in target- it was $1 for a pack of six. They worked great, though I did a little insurance by spraying lightly with baking spray. I looked for them on target.com to post here but couldn’t find them, so I just posted a link to another kind so at least someone could learn what a silicone cup was. Williams Sonoma also carries them, though they are little more expensive. Hope that helps! Thanks for the comment!

Beware of the push to go vegan now that you have committed to vegetarianism. As a vegetarian for 35+ years–the vegan diet is good for periods of time but you will find it lacking in overall nutrients,variety and taste. Then, if you commit to being a vegan–the big sell then is becoming a raw fooder. The key is what? The key is to look at who in this world lives long and healthy lives. And guess what? It’s not vegans and raw-fooders.

David, I’m sorry you feel that way about veganism. I’ve been vegan for several years and was vegetarian before that. When I compare both diets, I have to say I wholeheartedly disagree with you. I have tried more new foods and dishes as a vegan than I ever did as a vegetarian or omnivore, and I feel much healthier knowing I have cut out the saturated fat and cholesterol laden cheeses, eggs, and milk. And as the vegan diet gains momentum, there have been some really great cookbooks that have come out in the last few years that rock my socks off!

I’m always torn when I make a sweet treat: can’t decide if I should try to make it as healthy as possible, or load it with Earth Balance & chocolate chips! These muffins look delicious, though, and full of good, healthful stuff – I will definitely have to try them. Thanks for posting!
.-= Allison, The Busy (Happy!) Vegan´s last blog ..Blue is the New Green =-.

I happen to have a huge zippie bag of red quinoa on my kitchen table. I will need to get some almond flour but other than that I could make these right now. Can’t wait to try them.
.-= Nicki´s last blog ..The Tulips =-.

I made these this morning.
Vegan baking is all new to me, but I wanted to give this a try and did not feel like making a trip to the store, so I substituted a few ingredients:
-Almond milk instead of soy milk
-I made my own almond powder by roasting some in the oven, removing some of the skin and powdering them with one of these “slap thingies”
-Olive oil for canola oil
-white quinoa instead of red
and well because I wanted to appeal to my kids…chocolate chips instead of dried fruits. (yeah I know there not vegan muffins anymore)
How did they turn out?
Delicious!!!

I’ve always been wary of vegan baking, but I love quinoa so I thought I’d give these a try. They turned out so good! I added some butterscotch chips to my second batch so I cheated a little bit, but I was so impressed by how tasty they were! I’ll definitely have to give your other recipes a try!

So I have to confess I’m not a vegetarian/vegan YET, but I am trying be conscious of eating cleaner food (as I train for my first half marathon). These muffins have given me hope that vegan baking doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavor..they’re FABULOUS! I did make a couple substitutions/alterations…I added two tablespoons of wildflower honey to add a bit more sweetness, I used ground walnuts in place of almond flour AND I used cranberries in half of the batch. These changes resulted in a satisfying, healthy breakfast which is sure to be a staple in my house. I definitely want to plug in the recipe to find the nutritional information though. Thanks you for this wonderful site-you have become invaluable for this work in progress :).

Honestly, I was a skeptic when I saw this, but I was looking for a vegan muffin recipe, and your website is so cute that I had to try these! I l-o-v-e these muffins – and although I was tempted to add some chocolate chips as one poster suggested – I tried to keep it vegan since I was making these for a church party – where a few are vegans. Thank you!

Hey peeps! There is such a thing as vegan chocolate chips, you know! I use them all the time. I get mine at Whole Foods Market’s bulk section. They tend to list the ingredients of bulk stuff there, bless them! Look for the semi-sweet something chocolate chips, which are dairy-free. Also, some prepackaged ones are to be found at Save on Foods. Yay!

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